June 2006 ISSUE
THE SUMMIT SERIES
Better Breathing, Better Lives
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BREATHING IT ALL IN |
Editor’s Note: The following article highlights the winner of the 2006 Alberta Ingenuity Fund Research Excellence Award, presented in April at the Summit Awards Gala in Edmonton. The PEGG will run stories on all the Summit winners.
BY FRANCINE MAXWELL
Editorial Assistant
Dr. Warren H. Finlay, P.Eng., started out with a passion for astronomy. What he’s ended up with is a world-renowned laboratory that centres on something far more Earth-bound: aerosol technology.
“I had a passion for amateur astronomy, but as I didn’t think I could make a living at that, I compromised and took engineering physics,” says Dr. Finlay. “Turns out that I liked the engineering.”
His research into the delivery of lung medications may save thousands of lives and improve the quality of life for many more. It is this research and dedication to finding better and more efficient ways to deliver life-saving medication to lung patients that earned Dr. Finlay the Alberta Ingenuity Fund Research Excellence Summit Award.
Aerosol technology wasn’t his first choice of a career in research. In
fact, it wasn’t his choice at all.
While supervising graduate students, he helped one find a topic to research.
After some delving around for ideas, Dr. Finlay and his student still hadn’t
come up with one that was suitable.
A series of telephone messages that were finally returned, however, led to
the topic of aerosols and their mechanics. In the end, Dr. Finlay was heading
one of the world’s best aerosol research labs.
“It was all very serendipitous,” Dr. Finlay says. “It was the
early 1990s and I was searching out what to do with my career. You could say
it found me.”
The research Dr. Finlay does is sought after by large corporations such as GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Boehringer and Alkermes. All this for a guy who at one time thought he’d make a good oboe player Oboe dreams or not, Dr. Finlay doesn’t regret taking the path he ended up on.
“I always wanted to improve humanity, to apply things to help society. When I graduated, what I wanted to do was instrumentation for medical purposes. Now I help pharmaceutical companies solve research problems,” says Dr. Finlay.
The near uniqueness of Dr. Finlay’s University of Alberta lab, the Aerosol Research Laboratory of Alberta, makes his work much sought after. The combination of engineering along with medical and science knowledge brings the big names to his door.
Other researchers in the field usually have pharmacy or medical degrees and can’t bring engineering to the job. The work that comes out of the lab, and Dr. Finlay’s multitude of publications and papers, are often cited in peer publications.
Dr. Finlay is also responsible for some 18 inventions, seven of which have active patents on them. While he couldn’t discuss specifics, some of his favourites are impressive.
“One invention would be useful for inhaled vaccines for, say, whooping cough, which kills thousands of children every year in developing countries. From a humanitarian point of view, this is one of my favourites.”
The invention, which Dr. Finlay co-invented, takes vaccine from a liquid to a powder, which could widen its use.
Still, Dr. Finlay is humble about his Summit Award win. While he expressed his great pleasure in being selected, he was also just as happy to have been nominated by his department.
“I was very surprised actually. There are a ton of people in this province who are exceptionally bright and exceptionally talented. I didn’t think I’d win, as there is a lot of research depth here.”
As for what’s next, watch for more great things from Dr. Finlay’s lab.
“We are working on some very innovative ideas and continue with adding to some of our ongoing projects.”
Apparently, there is little time to rest for a crusader for better breathing. Or to work on that oboe playing.
The Alberta Ingenuity Fund Research Excellence Award recognizes professionals in academia or industry who have conducted innovative research in engineering, geology or geophysics that has been successfully applied to improve our economic and social well-being.